Wallboard staple

ABSTRACT

A staple for anchoring wallboard to a jamb, wherein the staple spans the gap between the wallboard and the jamb, such staple having down bent portions, including an intermediate spacer to move into the gap and against the jamb, forward piercing points to be embedded in the jamb at a distance no greater than about one-half its thickness, and a rearward point to pierce the drywall and be embedded in the underlying structure, said spacer being the longest and the rearward part being the next longest so that the rearward part may be first driven through drywall after the staple is positioned.

United States Patent 1 1 [111 3,74

Andruskiewicz June 26, 1973 [54] WALLBOARD STAPLE 2,612,813 10/1952 Cohn85/13 3,226,78 1 19 6 [761 Invent: Julia Andruskiewicl 280 williw3,298,15i- 1/1927 85/13 Road, Elmhurst, Ill. 60126 [22] Filed: Jan. 3,1972 Primary Examiner-Marion Parsons, Jr.

[2]] Appl- Nol: 215,203 Attorney-Dom1n1k, Knechtel & Godula Related US.Application Data 57 ABSTRACT [63]Continuat1on-in-partofSer.No.43,413,June4,1970. A Staple for anchoringwanboard to a jamb wherein the staple spans the gap between thewallboard and the 85/13 8 jamb, such staple having down bent portions,including 58] Field ll 1 an 1nterme d1ate spacer to move mm the gap and287/20 6 against the amb, forward plercmg pomts to be embedded in thejamb at a distance no greater than about onehalf its thickness, and arearward point to pierce the [56] References drywall and be embedded inthe underlying structure, UNITED STATES PATENTS said spacer being thelongest and the rearward part 82,181 9/1968 Tileston 85/49 being thenext longest that the rearward part may be 1,483,941 2/1924 ass0n--.-

85/13 first driven through drywall after the staple is posi- 1,599,9859/1926 Carlson... 85/11 tioned' 1,621,213 3/1927 Olson.....' 85/111,697,456 1/1929 Carlson 85/13 4 Claims, 7 Drawing Figures Patented June26, 1973 f /0 tkzo FIG. 3

FIG. 6

IN VE N TOR Ju l/an Andrusz/rie w/cz QM ATTYS.

WALLBOARD STAPLE This application is a continuation-in-part of copendingapplication Ser. No. 43,413 filed June 4, 1970, by the same applicant.

This invention relates to an improved staple for anchoring wallboard orplaster to an adjoining wood jamb.

In construction work, it is common to employ wallboard, also commonlyknown as drywall. This preformed material is mounted in sections whichare then taped together to form a seam prior to decorative finishing,such as painting. An edge of wallboard adjoins wooden door or windowjambs to which the wallboard is then anchored. The edge of the wallboardis slightly spaced from the jamb to form a gap therebetween.

.Various fasteners have been used for anchoring the adjoining portionsof the wallboard and the wood jamb, such as filling the gap with awooden shingle and driving nails through the jamb, shingle andwallboard. Clips may be used such as those shown in U.S. Pat. No.3,226,781, but such clips also require nails driven in from the front ofthe jamb. Such means require front driven nails and other time consumingprocedures such as trimming the shingle and removing portions of theclips. The nails must be accurately mounted and they detract from theappearance of the front face of the jamb.

It is accordingly an important object of the present invention toprovide an improved fastener for fastening wallboard or plaster to ajamb across a gap, said staple being economically produced as a unitaryelement, while still realizing advantages in use.

It is another important object to provide an improved staple which canbe properly positioned relative to the jamb, gap and wallboard orplaster.

It is another important object to provide an improved staple of the typedescribed, which securely fastens the wallboard or plaster to a jambacross an intervening gap while allowingpredetermined extension of thestaple across the width of the jamb, while at the same time allowingsaid staple to be mounted in an improved and speedier manner by thepractitioner.

Such objectsare attained, together with still other objects which willoccurto practitioners, by the invention of the following disclosurewhich includes drawings, wherein: V I I FIG. 1 is a side elevationalview of the improved stap FIG. 2 is one end view of the staple shown inFIG. 1, looking at the straight rear edge;

FIG. 3 is an opposite end view of the staple of FIG. I, looking at theopen end provided. with piercing points;

FIG. 4 is a top plan view of the stapleshown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 5 is afront view showing a plurality of the staples of FIG. 1 inuse;

FIG. 6 is an enlarged portional view indicated at 66 in FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a sectional view along line 7-7 of FIG. 6.

The staple is shown to comprise a unitary body 10 having opposite longsides ll, 12; a straight, unmodified' end 14; and an oppositerectangular open end or cut-out 16. The body 10 is shown to be planarwith down bent portions 18-22 disposed normally to the plane of thebody.

The down bent portions include a spacer plate 18 at the open end 16, andinboard of the long sides 11, 12. The spacer is flanked by a pair offorward piercing points 20, which are down bent portions at the oppositelong sides 11, 12. The body has a down bent rearward peircing point 22which formation leaves an enclosed triangular cut-out 24 in the plate10. The rearward piercing point 22 is shown as a triangular piercingpoint, and the forward piercing points are shown as having a stakeconfiguration. The open end 16 is an open cut-out formed by down bentpositioning plate 18 1 and the down bent forward piercing points. Thespacer plate is the longest down bent portion and the rearward piercingpoint is the next longest. The forward piercing points are the shortest,and the rearward piercing point has an effective length so that it maybe driven to substantially pierce through the wallboard or plasterbefore the forward points pierce the jamb. In this way, the rearwardpoint pierces the underlying stud at about the same time as the forwardpoints pierce the jamb. All three piercing points are then in contactwith wood to stabilize the staple under successive hammer blows whichembed the points in the wood. The spacer plate is substantially closerto the forward points than to the rearward points, for reasons whichwill be made clear.

The use of the improved wallboard staple may be seen in the view ofFIGS. 5-7. The plurality of the improved staples are used to fasten awallboard 26 (which term hereinafter shall also refer to plaster) to anadjoining jamb, shown as door jamb 28. The edge 30 of the wallboardadjoins edge 32 of the door jamb, and defines a small gap or spacing 34therebetween. The staple is correctly positioned relative to theadjoining wallboard and door jamb by the spacer plate 18 engaging .theinside of the jamb in gap 30. The rearward piercing point 22 firstcontacts the wallboard. It is then driven through the wallboard tocontact any underlying structural material, such as stud 36. The placingof the spacer plate 18 closer to the forward piercing points 20 then tothe rearward piercing point 22 results in correction positioning andsecure fastening of the wallboard 26 to the door jamb 28. The planarbody 10, which remains exposed following placement of the staple, is ofsufficiently thin dimension so that it may be easily covered by materialsuch as casing or molding 38. In other words, only a flat, thin bodyportion remains after engaging the staple or fastener. The staple isquickly driven into the wallboard and structural material by a hammerimpact directed against the planar body portion. Such staple, therefore,obviates the need of nails in the outside or front face of the jamb.

The spacer plate is longer than the rearward piercing point so that suchplate can be first placed in the gap 30 a sufficient distance forrearward piercing point 22 to make surface contact. The forward piercingpoints are the shortest of the down bent portions so that such pointsare the last to pierce the structural material upon impact forces beingdelivered to the planar body portion. The relative length of thepiercing points and spacer plate, therefore, are important features inquickly positioning the staple, and then quickly embedding same into theadjoining materials. First contact by the rearward piercing pointprovides stability which is improved as the rearward and forwardpiercing points make surface contact with the structural wood material.

The triangular rearward piercing point is positioned substantiallycloser to the straight end edge than to the rectangular spacer platewhich, in turn, is positioned substantially closer to the end piercingpoints than to the spacer plate. This leads to improved fastening inthat the planar body portion serves somewhat as a strap to hold thesofter wallboard, to the harder wood jamb. Door and window jambs havinga width of three-fourth inch are used almost universally. It isaccordingly required that the spacing between the positioning plate andthe forward piercing points be no more than about one-half the thicknessof the jamb, or about threeeighth inch. The spacing, further, should notbe less than about two-eighth inch to assure sufficient area to piercethe jamb, even when accidental misalignment of the staple occurs by notpositioning plate 18 against the inside of the jamb. The jamb can thenbe covered with the casing or molding such as 38, while still leavingthe desired exposed margin 39 on the jamb. Such a margin is needed forinstalling hinge or lock plates, or the like.

The rearward piercing point should be substantially farther from thespacer plates than from the forward points, and should be close to therear of the planar body. The actual distance need not be as carefullyset as the distance between the spacer plate and forward points, but thedistance should be sufficient to prevent breaking away of the softerwallboard which would occur if too close to the edge thereof. A largerdistance will, of course, require the body member to be longer for moreeffective fastening. The best mode presently contemplated provides adistance of at least about 1 inch.

It will be appreciated that the illustrated staple may be formed in asimple stamping operation where the down bent portions are formedwithout forming waste material. These economies are realized while stillattaining improved placement of the down bent portions. The forwardpoints are widely spaced at the opposite long sides for more stablecanchoring and the front cutout allows good visual view for positioningthe spacer plate. The rearward piercing point in the triangular formprovide good piercing a greater area to anchor the softer plastermaterial, and the forward points are smaller for better piercing theharder wood jamb.

The rearward piercingpoint may contact the underlying wood at about thesame time, shortly prior to, or shortly after the forward points piercethe jamb. It is important only that the rearward part effectivelypenetrate the wallboard which is conventionally one-half inch thick. Thethree point contact should be obtained substantially simultaneously orin generally quick succession to attain the stability for efficientlyembedding the staple points into the wood. By way of representativeexample, the forward points may be one-half inch long, and the rearwardpoints about 1 inch long, say, five-sixteenth inch. The claims of theinvention are now presented, and the terms of such claims may be furtherunderstood in view of the foregoing disclosure.

What is claimed is:

l. A stamped metal staple for fastening a wallboard to an adjoining jambacross a gap, including a planar body portion having opposite sides,

a plurality of down bent portions extending normally to the plane of thebody portion,

one of said down bent portions being a rearward piercing point,

other of said down bent portions being forward piercing points,

the remaining down bent portion being a spacer plate, and

said spacer plate being the longest down bent portion, said rearwardpiercing point being the next longest down bent portion, and saidforward piercing points being the shortest down bent portions, saidrearward piercing point having an effective length so that the rearwardpoint pierces through the wallboard and contacts the underlying woodabout the same time as the forward piercing points pierce the jamb, andsaid spacer plate and forwarding piercing points having a distancetherebetween about one-half the thickness of the jamb.

2. A stamped metal staple as in claim 1 wherein said rearward piercingpoint has a triangular shape, and said forward piercing points areformed along the opposite sides of the planar body.

3. A stamped metal staple as in claim 2 wherein the, spacer plate isinboard of the opposite sides of the planar body and between the forwardpiercing points, said down bent spacer plate forming a substantiallyrectangular cut-out between the forward piercing points.

4. A stamped metal staple as in claim 3 wherein the distance between thespacer plate and the forward piercing point is no less than abouttwo-eighth inch, and the distance between the rearward piercing pointsand the spacer plate is at least about 1 inch.

t I. III

1. A stamped metal staple for fastening a wallboard to an adjoining jamb across a gap, including a planar body portion having opposite sides, a plurality of down bent portions extending normally to the plane of the body portion, one of said down bent portions being a rearward piercing point, other of said down bent portions being forward piercing points, the remaining down bent portion being a spacer plate, and said spacer plate being the longest down bent portion, said rearward piercing point being the next longest down bent portion, and said forward piercing points being the shortest down bent portions, said rearward piercing point having an effective length so that the rearward point pierces through the wallboard and contacts the underlying wood about the same time as the forward piercing points pierce the jamb, and said spacer plate and forwarding piercing points having a distance therebetween about one-half the thickness of the jamb.
 2. A stamped metal Staple as in claim 1 wherein said rearward piercing point has a triangular shape, and said forward piercing points are formed along the opposite sides of the planar body.
 3. A stamped metal staple as in claim 2 wherein the spacer plate is inboard of the opposite sides of the planar body and between the forward piercing points, said down bent spacer plate forming a substantially rectangular cut-out between the forward piercing points.
 4. A stamped metal staple as in claim 3 wherein the distance between the spacer plate and the forward piercing point is no less than about two-eighth inch, and the distance between the rearward piercing points and the spacer plate is at least about 1 inch. 